In December, Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs and Maikel Franco of the Philadelphia Phillies filed grievances against their respective teams alleging that their service clocks were purposefully manipulated in order to delay their opportunity to become free agents.
Colorado Rockies GM Jeff Bridich now faces a similar dilemma to what the Cubs and Phillies faced a season ago, specifically with shortstop Trevor Story, but has perpetually insisted that these decisions are not governed by the rules of arbitration and instead are an “individualized process.”
“I think the thing with Kris Bryant was made such a big deal because Kris Bryant and his agent decided to make it a big deal. We don’t live inside the Cubs’ heads,” says Bridich.
In the second part of BSN Denver’s interview with the Rockies GM, we discussed the merits of a rule that incentivizes delaying players when they might otherwise be ready to graduate to the big leagues. CJ Nowitzki of CBS Sports explains:
“In an average year there are 183 service days in a major-league season, 162 games and 21 off days. If you accrue 172 days in any season, it is considered a full year. Six full years gets you to free agency. Five years and 170 days … does not.”
Teams can hold a player like Story, Bryant, or Franco back so that they don’t debut until a point in the season where it would be impossible to reach their sixth full year (reaching free agency) without playing another complete season with their team. Essentially, by taking a month or so off the beginning of a player’s rookie season, the team can buy an extra year at the end of his contract.
“It’s not like there’s a rule in place that says you should hold this guy back,” says Bridich. He’s right. It’s a cost-benefit analysis that every team must consider given their own circumstances, and presumably that of the player involved.
Bridich argues that it’s a matter of understanding what you signed up for on both sides. He reminds us, “It’s a rule of how service time is doled out and they are mutually bargained thresholds. It’s not a rule designed for a specific person like Kris Bryant.”
“The assumption that went along with Kris Bryant,” Bridich continued, “was that once he hit the big leagues he was going to stay there forever. And that’s I think the hope every time you bring somebody up — that the player is just going to take off and never look back — but that’s not the reality most of the time.” This is a point Bridich has made regarding Story before, noting that even if we see the young shortstop on Opening Day, that doesn’t necessarily mean the team has given up on the smart business move of buying that extra year of service.
But that also doesn’t mean that Bridich is downplaying the possibility of Story becoming an impact player. “Most of the time guys go up and down,” he says, “even Carlos Gonzalez. You think back to CarGo, he used all of his options before he actually established himself as a big league regular. Very few career paths are exactly the same.”
If there is one mantra I’ve picked up from Bridich in our few brief conversations it’s “no blanket policy.” He regularly uses phrases like “don’t paint with one color” and “everything in context” and of course, “individualized process.”
He is in a constant state of analysis and re-evaluation. What at first can feel like an unwillingness to share a plan — or to some an inability to have one — is actually the reflection of a man who has a ton of plans. One could argue that having a multitude of options without necessarily prioritizing them could get dangerous. For example, if Story really does bust out right away and never gives the team a legitimate reason to send him down (big ifs) they could find themselves in a situation where they lose a year of a really good player at a time when the team expects to compete.
Bridich’s modus operandi seems to be to keep as many options open to himself for as long as he can. With the hand he was dealt, that makes perfect sense. But at some point, you have to make tough choices and for now Bridich is doing so on a case-by-case, player-by-player basis. The trades of Troy Tulowitzki and Corey Dickerson suggest that when it comes time to pull the trigger, Bridich will be ready. The real question will be all about how he handles this young army he has assembled, starting with Story.
“I would assume that most if not all clubs take a large range of things into account when deciding when they want to graduate somebody,” says Bridich. That may be, but the future of the Rockies pretty much depends on him playing these things right. We will have more soon — in an in-depth interview with Rockies Director of Player Development Zach Wilson — on what the team is doing to give each player the kind of contextualized development Bridich envisions.
Regardless of his defense of the Cubs’ decision, Bridich continues to indicate that he may well go a different direction with his highly-anticipated prospect. He concludes: “Our overall goal at the end of the day is to put the best team on the field.”
With the spring he has had, it’s hard to see how that team doesn’t include Trevor Story. We will find out soon.
Stay tuned to BSN Denver for the final part of my conversation with Colorado Rockies GM Jeff Bridich on the team’s future.
